Sites
of Change: the Form and Function of Industrial Transformation
– Presented at the 3rd Annual Meeting of the International Association
of Transport, Traffic and Mobility, October 2005, in York, United
Kingdom
This
paper presents a historical analysis of industrial and technological
developments in the US railroad industry in order to introduce a
contextual theoretical framework through which understand case studies.
Specifically, the research focuses on locomotive maintenance practices
and examines changes that occurred as a result of interactions between
management policy, organized labor, and the application of technology
between 1900 and 1960.
At
the turn of the 20th century, railroads faced increasing pressure
from regulators and the general public to implement scientific management
in order to reduce costs and offer lower rates. To many, locomotive
maintenance shops seemed like a natural place to implement such
changes, as they nominally resembled other manufacturing plants.
Because
of the difficulty of attaining the necessary economies of scale,
shortages of investment capital, the persistence of traditional
shop management practices, and the increasing effectiveness of unions
following the nationalization of railroads during WWI, few railroads
attempted a substantive adoption of scientific management. Instead,
railroad management pursued strategies that allowed for greater
economies of scale while not disturbing union-defended work rules.
As a result, technologies and labor practices varied greatly across
most railroad companies at any given time.
The
William L. Clements Library invited the author to present this research
with a lecture in July 2005.
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